RPT-UPDATE 1-Kuwait's Agility Q3 net up 15 pct, beats forecasts

* Q3 net profit at 40.5 mln dinars

* 9-month net profit at 115.5 mln dinars

KUWAIT, Nov 10 - Kuwait's Agility <AGLT.KW>, the Gulf's biggest logistics firm by market value, posted a 15-percent rise in third-quarter profit, beating forecasts.

Net income in the three months to Sept. 30 came in at 40.5 million dinars , up from 35.2 million dinars in the year-earlier period, Agility said in a statement on Tuesday.

Coast Investment had forecast third quarter net profit of 37.69 million dinars, while SHUAA Capital expected 38 million. [ID:nL4409557]

"Our government business and emerging markets platform have been important hedges against the global recession, and our internal transformation efforts are yielding bottom line results," Chairman Tarek Sultan said in the statement.

Agility, which operates in 120 countries, has been trying to lower its dependence on U.S. government deals to supply troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by moving to new markets and making a string of buys. It now also makes money from real estate.

The firm made net profit of 115.5 million dinars in the first nine months, up 7 percent from the same period a year earlier, it said.

Sultan told Reuters in April the firm is aiming for a major acquisition in Asian emerging countries and is hoping to see growth in its revenues this year. [ID:nSIN480047]

Earnings per share were 40.3 fils in the third quarter, up 19 percent from the year-earlier period, Agility said. There are 1,000 fils to the dinar.

Agility's shares were down 1.64 percent, underperforming the main benchmark <.KWSE> which closed 0.24 percent down on Tuesday. Earnings were released after trading hours.